We begin with what you want.
The attorney can interview the client, gather the relevant facts, and explain what planning may realistically be possible in the available time.
Sierra Nevada LawWILLS · TRUSTS · PRIVATE CLIENTLife can change in an instant
This Is Real…I Need Help Getting My Affairs in Order…NOW.
When Life Cannot Wait.
Yesterday, this was something you were going to handle someday. Then came the diagnosis. The accident. The call about surgery. Now the ticking clock feels like it is pounding. There is suddenly so much to do—and so little time. You need to know what can still be done, and what cannot.
A private inquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship. The firm must review the matter before offering an engagement.
A message from Derek
Diagnosis: When Life Cannot Wait | Sierra Nevada Law
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A note from Derek
Why I charge for the first conversation.
We are a small law office. As lawyers, what we have to give is our time, attention, judgment, and experience. When that time is spent giving free information to people who are only shopping around, it is taken away from the clients who hired us for focused help with something that matters to their families.
I prefer to work with people who respect my time and my need to support my family—because I understand that you are here for exactly the same reason: you love your family and want to take care of them. A paid consultation is mutual respect. You receive my undivided attention for a specific purpose, and we both decide whether working together is the right fit.
We do not run a document assembly line. When we accept additional estate-planning work, the goal is a plan tailored to your life, your property, your concerns, and the people who depend on you. That work takes care and capacity, which means we can accept only a limited number of clients at one time.
We value our time. That is why we value yours.
$250 · 30 MINUTES
Consultation and diagnosis only.
The attorney listens to the facts, identifies the legal situation and possible next steps, and discusses what service may be appropriate. The attorney does not review documents or perform any other legal work under the $250 engagement.
Every document review, drafting project, revision, implementation step, or other legal service requires a separate written agreement and a separate fee.Why people come to us
The legal documents begin with the life around them.
The service may come to you.
When appropriate and available, work may take place at a hospital, care facility, or home. Travel, compressed preparation, and in-person coordination carry separate premium fees.
Execution is its own legal step.
Preparation does not mean a document can automatically be signed. Identity, understanding, voluntariness, privacy, witnesses, notarization, location, and other formalities must be evaluated.
What may have changed
Start with the facts of your life now.
- A hospital admission or serious diagnosis
- Unexpected surgery or rapid health change
- A parent or spouse needs help getting organized
- Old or missing wills, trusts, or powers of attorney
- Unclear ownership, beneficiaries, or decision-makers
- Concern about privacy, pressure, or capacity
A paid professional service
Urgent planning at a hospital, care facility, or home—when appropriate.
The $250 engagement is limited to a 30-minute consultation and diagnosis based on the facts you describe. It includes no document review. If the firm later accepts separate work, an attorney may gather additional facts, review documents, prepare agreed documents, and return or coordinate execution where legally and practically appropriate. Every such service requires a separate written agreement and separate premium fee.
Internal safeguard: no substantive remote or mobile work begins before conflicts, identity, client location, privacy, everyone present or off-camera, understanding, voluntariness, execution requirements, staff roles, scope, fee, and a special written engagement or remote-services addendum are addressed.
Your next step
One clear step at a time.
Begin with the private conflict check. If the matter can proceed, the secure path continues through the service-specific agreement, $250 payment, and calendar in that order.
- 01
Private urgent inquiry
Request a conflict and availability check. Do not upload medical records or estate documents here.
Continue securely → - 02
$250 consultation and diagnosis
A 30-minute consultation identifies the situation and possible next step. It includes no document review or other legal work. After the firm receives the conflict and fit information, continue through the urgent-estate agreement and secure $250 Stripe payment prepared for this exact consultation.
Available after the prior step is completed - 03
Separate proposal for legal work
If further work may be appropriate, the firm defines the scope and premium fee in a new written agreement. There is no obligation to offer or accept it.
Available after the prior step is completed - 04
Work begins only after separate engagement
Document review, drafting, travel, bedside work, and execution coordination begin only after the separate agreement and separate fee requirements are satisfied.
Available after the prior step is completed
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